This invention relates generally to data center operation, and in particular to configuring a server rack or other computing asset by determining its physical and/or virtual locations in the data center using an automated process.
As the internet has evolved, the bandwidth, processing, and storage requirements of websites and other internet-enabled applications have dramatically increased. Data centers have become increasingly important in providing these computing resources to support the internet activity of companies, schools, and many other internet-dependent entities. Data centers may have massively complex infrastructure, having tens of thousands or more servers. Servers may be stacked vertically within server racks (“racks”), and racks may be organized into rows within a data center suite. Each rack may comprise a unique rack serial number which identifies the rack. Each rack may also be topped with a network switch (a “top-of-rack” or TOR switch). For the servers in a rack to be operational within a network segment, they must be coupled (usually by network cable or fiber) to the rack's TOR switch.
Multiple racks may be connected to a cluster switch, which organizes racks into virtual local area networks (VLANs). In one embodiment, a cluster switch comprises multiple input/output ports, each of which may be coupled to a rack's TOR switch. A cluster switch may contain multiple racks within one VLAN, or it may associate one or more racks within multiple VLANs. A rack's “virtual location” may be expressed as the identity of a cluster switch port, the VLAN, or the cluster switch itself to which the rack's TOR switch is coupled. The “physical location” of a rack may refer to the actual location of the rack within a row, suite, and data center.
To determine each rack's physical location within a data center suite, data center operators manually scan the rack during installation to determine the rack serial number and manually associate the rack serial number with the physical location of the scanned rack. For data centers with thousands of servers, this manual scanning process is extremely time consuming. Further, as this process requires manual rack serial number and physical location association, there is potential for human error resulting in a rack being incorrectly associated with a physical location. Thus, there is a need for an automated solution for associating data center rack identities with physical rack locations to configure the server racks and the computing assets within the data center.